Numbness and tibialis muscle

Yoga Discussion Structural Yoga Therapy
#1

A student in my yoga class has developed numbness that runs along the

tibialis anterior muscle of her right leg. She says it feels like it is

asleep, and she has pain when she presses on the upper lateral part of the

muscle (oddly, it is directly on the acupressure point ST 36). Her knee is

unaffected and she didn’t injure it.

I gave her the foot range of motion exercises, but I am not sure what else

to do. Could this be a nerve problem?

#2

Indeed it sounds like nerve pain to tibialis nerve, which is a branch of the sciatic. I feel that doing the Joint Freeing Series extra slowly with an intention to extend the joint space may prove helpful. Be creative in adding some additional movements for the pathway from the hip joints downward to the ankles. Some ideas include reversing the sequence on page one of JFS. I would also suggest acupuncture for her therapy.